This volume is the first comprehensive examination of one of the twentieth century's most distinctive iconoclasts. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was a study in contradictions. Born into a fundamentalist Christian family and educated at Cambridge, he was vilified as a traitor, drug addict, and debaucher, yet revered as perhaps the most influential thinker in contemporary esotericism. Moving beyond the influence of contemporary psychology and the modernist understanding of the occult, Crowley declared himself the revelator of a new age of individualism. Crowley's occult bricolage, Magick, was an eclectic combination of spiritual exercises drawn from Western European magical ceremonies and Indic sources for meditation and yoga. This journey of self-liberation culminated in harnessing sexual power as a magical discipline, a "sacrilization of the self" as practiced in Crowley's mixed masonic group, the Ordo Templi Orientis. The religion Crowley created, Thelema, legitimated his role as a charismatic revelator and herald of a new age of freedom. Aleister Crowley's lasting influence can be seen in the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and in many forms of alternative spirituality and popular culture. The essays in this volume offer crucial insight into Crowley's foundational role in the study of Western esotericism, new religious movements, and sexuality.
Category: Religion

L�vi began to write in succession Histoire de la magie in 1860. The following year, in 1861, he published a sequel to Dogme et rituel, La clef des grands myst�res ("The Key to the Great Mysteries"). In 1861 L�vi revisited London. Further magical works by L�vi include Fables et symboles ("Stories and Images"), 1862, Le sorcier de Meudon ("The Wizard of Meudon", an extended edition of two novels originally published in 1847) 1861, and La science des esprits ("The Science of Spirits"), 1865. In 1868, he wrote Le grand arcane, ou l'occultisme D�voil� ("The Great Secret, or Occultism Unveiled"); this, however, was only published posthumously in 1898.
Category:

This volume represents the high-water mark of the thought of Eliphas Levi. It may be regarded as written by him as his Thesis for the Grade of Exempt Adept, just as his "Ritual and Dogma" was his Thesis for the grade of a Major Adept. He is, in fact, no longer talking of things as if their sense was fixed and universal. He is beginning to see something of the contradiction inherent in the nature of things, or at any rate, he constantly illustrates the fact that the planes are to be kept separate for practical purposes, although in the final analysis they turn out to be one. This, and the extraordinarily subtle and delicate irony of which Eliphas Levi is one of the greatest masters that has ever lived, have baffled the pedantry and stupidity of such commentators as Waite.
Category: Body, Mind & Spirit

Ritual Magic, by Donald Tyson, provides a historical, theoretical, and practical introduction to the astonishing world of magic--not mere myth and delusion nor tricks and illusion, but real magic. In Ritual Magic you will learn what is possible with magic. Can magic bring rains from a clear sky? Can it calm stormy seas? Can real magic change the outcome of great battles? Can you use magic to improve your life? The answers to these and many other questions will be found in Ritual Magic. ·Explore the roots of magic — its complete history ·Get answers to questions frequently asked by those approaching magic for the first time ·Discover how magic works ·Learn the similarities and differences among different magical paths, including Golden Dawn, Shamanism, Wicca, Thelema, Druidism, and more ·Receive complete instructions for rituals to awaken magical awareness and to accomplish a willed purpose ·Deepen your knowledge of ritual magic, with suggested programs of study and reading material ·Learn how and why magic can become an important part of your life Whatever you own particular occult interest, Ritual Magic will help you learn what it is about, where it comes from, and how to do it correctly. By using this book as a road map of Western occultism, you will discover the truth about magic and use it to improve your life.
Category: Body, Mind & Spirit

This Volume is a compilation of 196 letters from Eliphas Levi to three different students: -1 letter to Mme. Hutchinson -10 letters to Mr. Montaut (also known as --The Elements of the Kabalah--) -185 letters to the Baron Spedalieri These letters cover a variety of subjects and are presented in a Bilingual format (English side-by-side with the original French) with copious footnotes and illustrations to help the student grasp the subject matter. Although many of these letters have been published in English before, this is a new translation of them all. This collection is a wonderful way to see into the heart of the Author and contain insights into his Transcendental Philosophy. --The effect which I await for you (from my epistolary lessons) will be the understanding of my books which contain the whole doctrine, but in an abridged and succinct form.--
Category: Religion